Just another AchillesBlog.com weblog

Well, today marks the 1 year anniversary of the dreaded event and coincidentally marks my full return to the sport that caused the rupture. (I should have returned earlier but an unfortunate accident in Mexico delayed my return to the ball diamonds by a few weeks…but that’s a whole other story!). It’s been a long and arduous journey but one that has caused me to stop and evaluate a few things in life. That said, I will be more than thrilled to complete a couple of ball games tonight and kick off the second year!

To those of you still in the swing of your recoveries hang in there! Once the crutches are gone, life begins to piece itself back together. I can say with some confidence that for the last 4 months thoughts and concerns of another AT issue have been non-existent. I have no lingering recovery issues and feel as though I have been at 100% recovered for at least the last 4 months. I am very thankful that I had the luck of getting to work with an amazing Ortho doctor as well as a great physiotherapist! I can’t stress the importance of going to physio; it was worth every penny!!

Hey everyone! It’s been awhile since I’ve last posted, but I thought that maybe it was time to update my blog to provide some relief to those starting on the path to recovery. It really does get better!

About the 30 week mark, you really do ‘forget’ that you’ve ruptured your Achilles. Certain activities will cause you to pause and you will most likely experience some hesitation, however, once you trust your recovery the world is open to you. I started curling back in December. My ruptured foot is the foot I slide out with and I have had zero issues with that. I’ve started snowboarding and have experienced zero issues running, spinning…etc. The first 12 weeks are the most difficult, but once you can get to the 25-30 week mark, it’s almost like the injury never happened (at least in my case).

Keep your heads up everyone - it gets better. And once you get to two-shoes, time flies…….just avoid gopher holes at all costs. I wish no one the fear of rerupture like I did!

I will end this blog with a little foreshadowing between myself and my ortho. When I first ruptured and the doctor and I were discussing the course of treatment we would take (op vs non-op) he said: ‘if it was my achilles I wouldn’t operate on it’. When I saw him in early January for a follow up, I discovered that he too just ruptured his achilles skiing a couple weeks back. True to his word, he took the non-op approach. Goes to show, it can happen to anybody!

Thought I would check in since it’s been awhile. Like many others, once you get over that initial 6 week hump in your recovery life seems to get back to normal and you tend to forget that just a few short months earlier you were rendered basically helpless!

Right now, I’d say I’m at about 96% for full recovery and don’t often think about my injury unless I am going to physio. Right now, we’re simply working on getting the calf back to full strength which will hopefully be any week now.

For those beginning their journey…hang in there! I promise that as soon as you can ditch the crutches life gets dramatically better quite quickly. Listen to your body and push as hard as you are comfortable doing. I believe I was lucky to be paired with a great ortho as well as great physiotherapist.

I am going to make an effort to come back more often and help others out as I relied on this site heavily for advice, timelines, guidelines…etc.

Well, I continue to see vast improvements in recovery. Just a couple weeks ago the thought of completing a single legged calf raise seemed rather bleak, but as of today I am very close to completing a single legged calf raise. I have been rollerblading on a daily basis the last few weeks as well as adding in the bike and elliptical. .

I’m really hoping that I can get back to jogging in the next couple months and hopefully complete a 5k run sometime next spring to mark the recovery process as complete! Here’s to starting the ball season on time!

Well, 16 weeks is officially in the books and I am thrilled to report that everything seems to be going very well!

My walking gait seems to just about be there. Coworkers have commented that they can barely tell I have a hitch (though I know one still exists). The last couple of weeks at physio we have spent a considerable amount of time working on calf strength. We should be working on a single leg calf raise in the very near future.

Other exciting news, though physio erased any images of curling this winter, he did say I would have no problems being able to ice skate! I did try on my rollerblades last night to see how my foot would feel, and everything felt great! I am hoping he will allow me to rollerblade this week! Everything seems to be falling into place quite nicely for a full recovery before ball season next year. I know that I still need to be cognizant of the activities and dangers around me, but it’s so exciting to slowly be getting back to regular activities.

To the vets out there: after week 16 is there anything you would caution about/anything to watch for? As much as I am excited and driven for full recovery, the thought of rerupturing never seems to leave my mind.

Well, I have completed 13 weeks of this journey and I am definitely seeing gains. The limp is slowly becoming less apparent, though it still exsits to an extent. Physio has me trying to continue to put more weight on my left leg during our heel lift exercises. Overall, everything seems to be progressing nicely, though I still cannot walk down stairs properly, but he assures me that will come. I also cannot balace on my left leg, has anyone else struggled with regaining their balance?

As great as everything is coming I can’t help but feel down that not only have I lost the ability to participate in all the sports of summer, but physio has quashed any hope I had to resume my participation in curling and other winter sports.

It’s extremely odd, I recall 13 weeks ago being convinced that all I ever wanted was to walk on 2 feet, and now that task has been completed I want to do more. Yes, I know, I am still in the danger zone and this is an injury that will require 6-12 months for full recovery…I would just like time to speed up!

Well, 10 weeks are in the books and 2 weeks since the dreaded re-rupture scare and things seem to be back on track somewhat. My physio noted yesterday that my AT had some lumps on it that was not there previously. We’re assuming it’s from the torn scar tissue. I’m hoping that it wasn’t scar tissue that was keeping the AT together. I still have a lot of bruising from the incident but he did note that my strength is back to where it was, so hopefully that’s good news.

I find myself unsettled by the fact that I just don’t know if I have caused any long term damage. My hope was to be able to play competitve sports again, but I am absolutely in fear that the AT could pop at any time. does this journey ever end…

After a re-rupture scare from last week, I am happy to report that I am doing great! I have seen dramatic improvements in my ROM. I did lose some strength but I am seeing improvements daily so I hope to have that on track.

I have to keep reminding myself to be careful. Everything feels so good, that at times I forget that I am still in the DANGER ZONE. Last weekend is still fresh in my mind, but it’s hard to remember to whoa down when recovery is happening quite fast.

Anyone have any tips for weeks 10-16? What to watch for? What to do to assist recovery?

Well, after the re-rupture scare, I find myself full of questions and unsure how to proceed. It was such a relief that I completely forgot to drill my ortho with questions. When I go to physio tomorrow I will be asking plenty but was hoping some people here might have some good insight.

1. I do have some pain still around the sides of the AT, should that be of concern?

2. Should I try walking in 2 shoes again, or is there a level of healing that needs to happen first?

3. Am I theoretically at a higher risk to rerupture because I did tear scar tissue.

4. Is tearing scar tissue typically a major setback or a couple days/weeks?

Thanks in advance for any insight! I feel like I am flying blind right now and I’m not really sure if I am putting too much stress on it or not enough.

Hey all, while walking in 2 shoes something happened, not sure if I hit a rut or not, but something definitely happened. It was not the same feeling as before, as this time I could feel stuff tearing, but it just doesn’t seem as bad. I went to the ER and I will be having an ultrasound on Monday. Right now I’m back to the boot with my wedge heel. I’m not really swollen and the back seems to still be in tact from my feel. Does anyone have any advice or insight. I can hobble in the boot without crutches….thoughts??